Aspen Sky

Description

Light is survival, when it comes right down to it. Without the light, the sun, the trees would simply not exist, and of course, this maxim is true no matter what kind of tree you happen to be. Even the quaking aspen needs light.

Stretching tall into the sky, the aspens arrow upward, ever seeking the sun. Sometimes they tower high above you, and as you look up into the canopy, leaf and sky meld into one, albeit with different colors.

I found this small stand of aspens near Telluride, Colorado, although I was pretty far off the beaten path. Somewhere in the woods, far from where people usually roam, these trees have been left undisturbed, and are free from mankind’s predations. They respond by growing ever higher, year after year, and continuing their journey into the sky.

It was a wonderfully lazy afternoon, as well, and that exact time of the year when all of the leaves were putting on their show. I enjoyed my time in this grove as I made this photograph, and was careful to leave nothing but footprints.